It happens very quickly. The chopper pilots get the equivalent of a flashlight to the face from the tiny presentation laser on the ground, and call in for help. I can only imagine what the effect would have been from some of the more, ahem, shockingly powerfullasers available. Luckily, the cops have infrared eyes in the sky, and can follow the green point in the distance to a real dude on the ground. Is he wearing a bathrobe? It's hard to tell. Soon enough, he's swarmed by cops and arrested. All in good fun, right? Nope—risking the lives of a pilot, whether it's an airliner or little chopper, is a felony. Photon jerks like this risk up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. And you probably don't want to have to answer the So, what are you in for? question after getting thrown for laser mischief. [The Atlantic]